Popcorn Chronicles

Philippine Box Office Returns (May 28-June 1)

Every week, Popcorn Chronicles will do its best to update you with the latest statistics on box office returns in the Philippines so that you’ll be guided on which movies raked in a lot of ticket sales every week.

On the Week of May 28 - June 1, a newly-opened Filipino film from Star Cinema leads the pack with a total of $1,435,652 (~Php 62,845,668) gross sales on its opening week, besting two other foreign films (Sex and the City & 21) that opened the same week. Caregiver is a Sharon Cuneta-starrer which talks about the struggles of a Caregiver OFW in London. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull falls to a close second on its second week, while Iron Man still manages a spot at number 5 with a whopping gross sales of $3,943,283 (~Php 172,617,219) on its fifth week.

Source: Box Office Mojo, LLC

21

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Some view the number 21 as a tender age of passage from adolescence to adulthood. Some view it as another day in the calendar, another leaf turned in the cycle of life. Some, on the other hand, see it as an opportunity to earn a quick buck, though the likes of them are few and hard to find.

21 is a coming-of-age movie that outgrows itself. It is a story of a gifted MIT student named Ben Campbell (amazingly portrayed by Jim Sturgess, lead actor of Across the Universe) who finds himself driven to join a Las Vegas gambling syndicate (in the form of his Non-Linear Equations professor and a few of his schoolmates) in order to get himself into Harvard Med School. Their claim to fame: they count, but not just ordinary counting, mind you.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the method of beating the dealer in Blackjack by mere counting and memorization. While I won’t go down into details regarding how it’s done (because believe me, they all lost me at the count of 1), you’ll find out that the trick is quite simple and pretty cool, but requires a lot of mental energy the average homo sapien usually doesn’t have. Read More »

Speed Racer

Whoever said that this movie sucked must either have serious brain damage or severe eye infection. And thanks to all who said such a thing, ’cause I believed them. And now I want to screw them ten times over ’cause, as Randy Jackson would say, “This movie’s the bomb, y’all!!!”

I don’t know what’s with all the people who didn’t like this movie, because I liked it so much I really, really want to know what’s wrong with those people.

Speed Racer is a movie about a kid named Speed (guess what his surname is?) who’s very passionate about (guess again) Automobile Racing. His life turns over when an unfortunate incident seemingly claimed the life of his racing idol, his brother Rex. This drives him to pursue his dreams of becoming like his brother, an acclaimed race car driver that inspires everyone to be their best. In the course of his “race,” if you may, he stumbles upon certain bigwigs who have no other plans but to stop him from reaching his most sought-after finish line.

At the onset, you’d think this is just another cheesy rehash from a classic cartoon series. Read More »

2008 Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival

Cinema One recently unveiled the seven qualifying films for this year’s Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival. The festival may be credited for producing top-notch independent digital films that tackle different social issues of the day. Famous movies from the festival include Confessional, Maling Akala, Metlogs and Rome&Juliet. Read More »

The Pitt among the Thors

The rumor-mill is abuzz with gossip about the possible casting of Brad Pitt as the Norse God in the movie adaptation of Thor, slated to release come June 2010. Nothing has been confirmed by Marvel, though, as all lead-actor speculations are just… that, speculations.

Pitt is the third rumored actor to play the part of Thor. Last year, Rome star Kevin McKidd was rumored to have been contacted by Marvel to play the role. I believe professional wrestler Triple H (Paul Michael Levesque in real life) is also on the list. Hmmmm… who do you think is best to play Thor among the three? Here, let me help you out with some visuals.

Pitt: I don’t like Thor’s costume. It doesn’t come with comfy breathable skirts unlike this Achilles costume. My wiener needs air, ya know.

Read More »

Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Harold and Kumar are back with another dose of hilarious antics in Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. This time, they’re on a road trip all over America trying to escape the authorities who think they’re terrorists.

It all started en route to Amsterdam to chase Harold’s love, Maria. Kumar produced a contraption called a “Bong” which is used to toot marijuana. A paranoid grandma screams “Terrorist!!!” upon seeing the device and that started their crazy journey all throughout America.

First they end up in Guantanamo Bay thanks to a psychotic government agent (Rob Corddry) who also appeared as the lawyer in What Happens in Vegas (coincidence, coincidence!). Then they try to escape before being feed cock meat sandwich (you wanna know what that is? Watch the movie. Heh.), end up in a twisted trailer house in the woods in Alabama, meet Doogie Howser, MD on the road to Texas and land in Amsterdam in the end.

To be quite honest, this one’s a total disappointment. Read More »

What Happens in Vegas

The opening salvo of Popcorn Chronicles is a romantic-comedy film starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher entitled What Happens in Vegas.

We all know Las Vegas, considered the Sin City of the world where all the gambling, mafia and sex happen. This is the place where people totally lose control of themselves and haphazardly dive into whatever pit they see in front of them. That is why the famous adage “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” was coined.

What Happens in Vegas is a cute romantic-comedy about two people who wanted to get away from their shitholes (or their so-called life) only to dive into a bigger pile of shit in Las Vegas. Joy McNally (Diaz) is an obsessive-compulsive stock broker who just got dumped by her boyfriend for being too controlling (honestly the best situation to get dumped: right before you give him a surprise party) while Jack Fuller (Kutcher) is a lousy happy-go-lucky guy who can’t seem to get a hold of his life. He just so happens to have been fired by his employer, who also happens to be his dad. Read More »

Welcome to Popcorn Chronicles!

from http://hollywoodandbeyond.breadnroses.ca

Let’s admit it. There’s a little Simpson in all of us. More specifically, there’s a Homer Simpson in all of us. We like to sit on our couch, munch on popcorn in a bowl, and watch endless amounts of TV all afternoon.

But this blog’s not about TV y’all. It’s about them movies! Heh. My point? This is a movie blog by a non-movie expert. Again, let’s admit it. The whole blogosphere is crowded by people with differing opinion on things, one idea trying to dominate the other. And sometimes, it’s just so hard to put your trust on anything.

And that’s what this blog is. This blog doesn’t claim anything but pure enjoyment of movies. No over-the-top analysis. No film critic-ish articles. The movies stripped down to the basics, just because the author is an advocate of the Reader Response Theory. No big-ass claims and pompous reviews. Simply, just about anything goes.

So sit back and relax. Lay on your Lazy Boy chair and grab that bowl of popcorn (hold the salt! It’s fattening). Popcorn Chronicles is here to provide you with anything and everything about movies just enough for the ordinary layman to digest.

Hold on to your seats! This’ll be quite a ride.